


Something Close to Free

by raimykeller



Series: wtfandomfusion - summer 2017 [8]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, FBI Intern Stiles Stilinski, First Kiss, I don't know how to tag this, M/M, Post-Canon, Season 6B, Sterek in 6b, This is what happens after Stiles sees the video of Derek at the FBI
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 22:52:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11907882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raimykeller/pseuds/raimykeller
Summary: After Stiles realizes the FBI are hunting Derek, he takes a trip down to North Carolina to find him.





	Something Close to Free

**Author's Note:**

> WTFF - WTFandomFusion - is the brainchild of [ quizasvivamos ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/quizasvivamos/pseuds/quizasvivamos) as something fun to do over the summer! 
> 
> WTFF is a 10-week writing and art challenge, beginning June 19th and ending August 27th. Each week, we'll have a new prompt that includes a different featured fandom, a randomly selected profession, and a randomly chosen beverage. Other than that, there are no rules! Join the fun and follow the challenge on [ tumblr ](https://wtfandomfusion.tumblr.com/) !
> 
> Week Nine Prompt Words: Teen Wolf, Pharmacist, Wine
> 
>  
> 
> _**Since this week was Teen Wolf & I've been using Sterek in all the other fandom AUs, I figured I'd go with Canon this time. Everything that happened in the series has already happened in this fic. This takes place after Stiles finds out Derek is wanted by the FBI.**_

After seeing Derek’s shirtless form running across the TV screen during his first class at Quantico, he took the next available opportunity to call up Cora in South America (routed through towers in Utah and Minnesota, of course, he’s not an amateur). While she was not surprised at the latest news about her brother, she was very helpful as to his possible location. Apparently, a third cousin twice removed married into a pack in Asheville years before the fire. They’d visited only once, but Cora was sure they would harbor Derek if he asked.

That weekend, Stiles was up before the sun to make the six-hour drive down south. The long hours alone with his thoughts did nothing to calm his nerves - and neither did the four Red Bulls he picked up at a CVS outside of Quantico (the pharmacist nearly had a cow when he paid for them and his ADHD meds). 

He honestly had no idea what he was going to say to Derek when he finally saw him again after all this time.

They never really had a moment alone to talk after Mexico. And there had been so much he wanted to say, things that he didn't even let himself consider until now. Like what they could have been, if it hadn't been for, well, reality, and other people, and what he thought he had wanted at the time. He really didn't want to dwell on the past anymore. He didn't want to think about the life they could have lived.

So he set his sights on the road ahead, only letting his brain think about ways to get Derek out of this mess in one piece.

Finally, he pulled up to an old, tourist-trap type antique shop on the outskirts of town, one that sold local fares like honey and apple butter. There was a large, hand-carved statue out front, a weathered wolf with gold-painted eyes. Cora was right - very cliche. 

Inside, he made his way over to the cash register, where an elderly lady sat filling out a newspaper crossword. She glanced up at him over the top of her spectacles when he approached the counter. She looked him up and down once, nostrils flaring as she scented him. 

“Take the road behind the shop. Third house, top of the mountain.”

Werewolves. Stiles blinked at her. “Um. Thank you?” 

“And take him these,” she said as she pulled a brown paper bag from behind the counter.

Stiles followed her directions to a small, wooden cabin about a mile down a dirt road. He barely saw the driveway through the trees. 

As soon as he stepped up on the rickety porch, the door swung open.

“What are you doing here, Stiles?” Derek sighed, though the glint in his eyes betrayed the feigned annoyance in his voice.

“As always, saving your ass.” 

Derek opened the door wider and tilted his head, “Want a beer?”

Sterek grinned, “Got anything stronger?” 

“Um, I have wine, too?”

Stiles laughed, “Beer is fine, Der. Oh, and these are for you.” He handed him the paper bag, “What are they?”

“Buckeyes. Gloria makes them. They’re fantastic.”

“What the hell are Buckeyes?”

“Little pieces of heaven made of chocolate and peanut butter,” Derek handed him the bag. “Taste.”

Stiles took a bite and moaned, “Holy fuck.”

“Right?”

Derek gestured to the threadbare couch, and they both sat. Stiles looked around at the sparsely decorated room but noted the old pictures of the Beacon Hill pack scattered around. A warm feeling settled in his chest. 

“You seem happy here.”

“I am,” Derek smiled. “Gloria and her pack have been so good to me. They leave me alone for the most part. I help out around the shop most days, and they’re letting me stay as long as I need to. It’s calm out here. Peaceful.”

“Is that all you’re doing out here?”

Derek cocked his head to the side, “What do you mean?”

“You haven’t, you know, committed murder. Multiple times?”

“Stiles. What. I barely talk to anyone out here. The only people I’ve been around are the pack. You’re the first human I’ve seen in weeks. And I thought you decided I wasn’t a murderer years ago. I’m hurt that you would think that of me.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you’re a murderer. The FBI does.” 

Derek looked utterly confused at that news.

“So you really haven’t been up to anything nefarious? I saw a video of you, surveillance video that the FBI has. You’re shirtless and you’re running through the woods. You’re the main suspect in an open investigation. Derek, they know you’re here.”

Derek looked horrified. He dropped his face into his hands. “Fuck. Stiles. I just want to live in goddamn peace for once in my life.”

Stiles’ heart broke for his friend. “I promise, Der. I swear I’m going to do everything I can to clear your name. I trust you, okay, you just have to trust me.”

Derek nodded, “I do.”

Stiles scooted closer to Derek on the sofa and laid a hand on his arm, squeezing lightly. To his surprise, Derek covered his hand with his own and turned his face closer to Stiles’.

They were both silent for a long, pregnant moment. Stiles felt the air between them practically crackle with electricity. 

“Stiles?” Derek whispered brokenly, leaning closer, questioningly.

“Yes,” Stiles answered. "God, yes, Derek."

And then they were kissing, and it was like nothing Stiles had ever felt before or let himself believe would happen. It was all passion and desperation. Hard and biting, years of pent up longing finally coming to a head in one fantastic moment that Stiles would never, ever forget.

When they finally broke apart, not moving too far, just enough to take deep breaths and trade shy smiles, Stiles brought his hand up and rested it gently on Derek’s cheek. Derek sighed and leaned into the touch and Stiles' heart clenched almost painfully at the gesture, reminding him why he was here.

“As much as I want to do so much more of this, we have to get you somewhere safe. I have to go back to Quantico tomorrow because if I’m going to clear you, I’ve got to do it from the inside.

“Do you have any other contacts, or maybe Gloria does? We should probably get you out of the state. Or, at least out of the woods. I don’t know how they got that video of you, Derek. So we can’t take any chances. And as much as it pains me to say this, don’t take your shirt off, at least in public. Your tattoo is a little too identifiable.

“OH! Maybe you can shift and stay in your wolf form! Just, stay away from populated areas. And, like, rednecks with guns and a penchant for taxidermy? Why are you smiling, Derek, this is serious!”

“I love you.”

That was enough to stop Stiles’ rambling in its tracks. His heart was beating wildly in his chest but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind or lie for Derek to hear when he breathed, “I love you, too.”

They’d figure the rest out in the morning, but for tonight, they could just have each other.

**Author's Note:**

> I did a terrible job of incorporating "pharmacist" and "wine" into this story. Sorry about that.


End file.
